U.S. Senate Votes To Legalize Hemp After Decades-Long Ban Under Marijuana Prohibition

U.S. Senate Votes To Legalize Hemp After Decades-Long Ban Under Marijuana Prohibition

Published on 7/1/18

With a lot of help from legislators and a little luck the President will soon sign a bill that would officially legalize hemp cultivation in the United States. Last week the Senate overwhelmingly voted to approve the bill and their version will combine with the House's and then be sent to the President's desk. Despite hemp having no psychoactive characteristics, it is a cousin to the well-known cannabis plant and when marijuana was labelled as a narcotic in the 30's and then a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the 70's hemp was categorized along with it. With the knowledge today that the hemp industry is nothing like the industrialized recreational or medical marijuana industry, enough legislators are showing support to finally make a change.

"Consumers across America buy hundreds of millions in retail products every year that contain hemp," McConnell said in a floor speech on Thursday. "But due to outdated federal regulations that do not sufficiently distinguish this industrial crop from its illicit cousin, American farmers have been mostly unable to meet that demand themselves. It's left consumers with little choice but to buy imported hemp products from foreign-produced hemp."

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